A Date with Sunflowers
by seaweedfma
Summary: Sometimes what one gains is not equal to what one loses. Edward Elric x Sciezska- rated K for mentions of character death. Fic assumes the movie never happens and goes AU after about episode 49 of the original anime.


This is a gift fic for inuyashanohime. I hope you like it!

Title: A Date with Sunflowers  
Pairing: Ed x Sciezka  
Rating: PG  
Prompt: Flowers  
Warnings/Notes: This assumes the movie never happens and goes AU after about episode 49 or so of the anime. Oh yeah, and it's angsty and sad. Sorry.

"Are you about ready to go?" Sciezka called from the living room up into the bedroom, where her still slightly sleepy boyfriend was supposed to be getting dressed.

Inside the room, Ed stopped buttoning up his black shirt for a moment to take a look at his right hand. He held it up towards the sunlight streaming in from the large bedroom window, bathing everything in the golden glow of daybreak.

He wiggled his fingers, feeling the slight pop that his knuckles gave when he bent them too far, almost enjoying the slight pain when he tried to move his finger further than it wanted to go. Ed still couldn't believe that his hand was flesh and blood, bone and muscle and sinew.

But the price he had to pay, it wasn't worth it.

"Just a second." He yelled back. He finished buttoning up his shirt, taking the time to feel the smooth texture of the button under the pad of his right thumb, and the soft wrinkles that bent and warped the silk fabric of his shirt.

Even after close to a year of having his entire body back, Ed still couldn't get over the sensations that came with touching even the simplest things- plastic buttons, silk shirts, soft and smooth skin.

He sighed, a long, sad sigh. Every Sunday, for the past 10 months, they had the same routine. Ed and Sciezka would walk down to the florist on the corner and pick up some flowers, and then they would head to the graveyard. At first, the pain was too much, and she had to physically force him to move, to get on with his life, or at least to pretend long enough to get out of bed and visit his brother's grave.

When the hole in his heart had healed a little, and he had some semblance of a normal life, the visits had become therapy to him. They would visit him and put sunflowers at his graves. He had always loved sunflowers, they grew so big and tall and strong. Then Ed would talk to him for a while, about everything and nothing all at once. And when his eyes were out of tears, and his voice was hoarse and low, then they would head home, and back to the shattered pieces of his existence.

Ed let out a long breath. He had put it off long enough. He knew he had to go downstairs. He closed the bedroom door behind him and went downstairs, giving his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek and a sad, soft smile as he entered the living room and stood stiffly next to the chair that she was occupying. "I'm all set." He said, quietly.

Sciezka put the book that she had been reading down. She bookmarked it and closed it, putting it on the lamp table beside the chair. She gave Ed a somber look. "I know it's tough. Today would've been his birthday, and this is the first one that you'll celebrate without him. But I'm sure that he would be glad to see that you have people who care for you very much, and I know that he wanted nothing more than to make you whole again. And he did."

She paused for a moment and looked into his golden eyes, eyes that had seen so much suffering and pain. It didn't seem fair, but Ed was strong, stronger than any man that she had ever met, and she knew that he would get through this as well. "Let's go." She said simply, giving the top of his hand a little pat and standing up.

Ed nodded, looking out the window at the sky, and the dark gray clouds that were starting to gather and congeal into one large carpet of gray, dingy dullness. He chuckled, not missing the irony of the situation. "Alright." He replied, giving the window one last forlorn look before turning towards the door, and his inevitable date with a grave, and sunflowers.


End file.
